Since Joshie Cadbury from Poole was diagnosed with epilepsy at just 11 years-old, he found a love for knitting to help with his recovery and fundraise for charity.

In August 2023 Josh and his parents and sister were crossing the ferry from Calais to Switzerland when Joshie suddenly became very unwell. Thankfully, Joshie’s parents are trained in CPR in their roles as physiotherapists and could jump into action to perform CPR on him.

After a few nights in Calais Hospital, the Cadbury family were able to continue their holiday. It was then that Joshie really got into his knitting and taught himself to make a headband. This was great for his recovery as he was told to take it easy and limit his screen time.

This hobby was a surprise to everybody as he has always been such an active person but now his creativity was coming out.

Sadly, after he returned from holiday, Joshie continued to have further seizures before it was confirmed he had epilepsy.

Having taught himself to knit while he adjusted to new medication and a need for some more relaxing hobbies, Joshie launched his business called BANZ to give back to his local hospitals that treat other patients just like him and help more people like him living with epilepsy. At just £10 a headband and one hour each to make, Joshie has turned heads with this new way to fundraise.

Not stopping there, Joshie’s parents, Kate and Tom have also worked alongside New Forest First Aid to offer new training courses for parents around how to deal with CPR, using a defibrillator, choking, seizures in children. At £25 a course, more than 90 people have gained the confidence in the first-aid skills to cope with these types of situations that can just come out of nowhere.

Now, living ‘sew’ positively with his new condition, Joshie has settled into his new senior school and has shown amazing resilience along the way. Together with the support of his doctors, his friends and everybody who has supported them in their fundraising efforts, Joshie and his family have raised a total of £2,000 for University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity’s epilepsy charity fund.

Joshie’s mum, Kate said: “I am so proud of how far Joshie has come and the way he has channelled his diagnosis into something so positive. He has had such a tough time and trying to settle into school, but he has done it! We have certainly learned a lot about how you can face your fears and do it anyway! This is something positive as he has learned to get through this hideous time in his life and hopefully, he will carry these skills with him into later life.”

“It is great to know we have encouraged other parents to train up on vital first aid skills that you just never know you may need one day.”

“There really is nothing more frightening than when you see your child not breathing, but what is even more frightening, is not knowing what to do. We hope our fundraising helps other families like ours.”

Fundraising Officer for University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity, Amy Beauchamp said: “It is quite remarkable how Joshie at just 11 years-old has taught himself how to knit and managed the production of such high-quality knitted headbands. It is great to see how this new hobby has made him cope with the challenges he has faced. We are extremely grateful for every penny raised for our Epilepsy fund and for Joshie’s family to choose for their donations to go to their local hospitals like the local hospital that helped them in Calais during their holiday to Switzerland.”